History VideoGame / BaldursGateII

** While Viconia can't hold a candle to Anomen when it comes to melee (who has high STR, CON and fighter levels), her WIS 18 makes her a superior caster (the DEX 19) aren't too shabby either.

* FlamingSword: Several weapons in ''[=BG2=]'' deal fire damage, including [[AnAxeToGrind "Stonefire"]], [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Blade of Searing" and "Sword of Flame"]], and [[InfinityPlusOneSword "Angurvadal"]]. Most are useful for killing trolls.

* BagOfSpilling: Justified by getting captured between games. You get to keep all your skills, though, and a few special items are kept in a locker. Though indirectly it actually can be of the variant that your character is inexplicably no longer capable of what they were before. Since ''[=BG1=]'' had no kits and a different proficiency system, importing a ''[=BG1=]'' character into ''[=BG2=]'' allows you to change from your base class to a kit and makes you reassign your proficiency points. So it's possible that your thief that backstabbed their way through ''[=BG1=]'' will turn into a swashbuckler that can't backstab at all and will lose their proficiency in short swords because they are now specialized in daggers.

* TheBeastmaster: A ranger kit that specialises in summoning animals to help out and has a familiar function. Is not very popular as it has the same armor restrictions as druids.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:Kangaxx]] congratulates you for yours after you release him.

* NoSell: At one point, [[spoiler: Bodhi]] kidnaps your love interest [[spoiler: to turn them into a vampire]]... ''Unless'' the love interest is an Enhanced Edition NPC, in which case they get away by using their class skills [[spoiler: or already being a vampire in Hexxat's case]], two of which also fits perfectly here by simply being the character shrugging the attempt off. This has received some criticism, since while it is indeed in-character and reasonable for all of them, it marks them out as different from the original characters and highlights the way the kidnapping went down was ''out'' of character for some of the originals (they all use divine magic, but [[HolyHandGrenade Anomen]] and [[WhiteMagicianGirl Viconia]] are powerful clerics). It also reduces the villain's effectiveness at being a villain.

*** There's an area in hell where you have two branching paths. One is filled with high level Beholders, the other with a wall that bombards you with nearly impossible to roll against save fear spells. If you're playing a Cavalier, you're *immune* to fear so you can just carelessly stroll past the latter corridor and get the MacGuffin.

* OmnicidalManiac: Kangaxx.

* RescueIntroduction: Aerie, Cernd, Haer'Dalis, Viconia (again!), Mazzy, and (technically) Minsc and Jaheira in the sequel.

* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: On the ''other'' hand, having better-developed party members lets you be personally cruel on a level the first game never allowed. Modest examples include [[spoiler: letting the daughter of Jan's beloved be killed by her abusive father]], [[spoiler: forcing Keldorn to lock up his wife and alienate his family]], and [[spoiler: leaving Jaheira and Minsc imprisoned in Irenicus's lab]]. To say nothing of putting together incompatible party members, which eventually ends in a fight to the death. Many of the romance banters also have at least one dialogue option that breaks the relationship off rudely, abruptly, and permanently.

* VoluntaryShapeshifting: A special ability of druids. Interplay touted it a fair bit prior to the release of ''Baldur's Gate II'', though in the final game it's essentially useless.

* EverythingsBetterWithCows: A Wild Mage surge in ''[=BG2=]'' can cause a cow to materialize and fall on one of your party members.

** The second path, the "ScrewThisImOuttaHere" path, begins with a noble called [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Maleficus]]. Maleficus offers a path for the evil or disinterested characters who don't care enough about rescuing Imoen or getting revenge on Irenicus to put in the effort; for doing three simple errands, he will allow them to leave Amn and sail to Maztica, leaving their problems and the Bhaalspawn Crisis behind. If the player isn't suspicous when his "employer" wants them to clear out the Shadow Thieves, they will be suspicious when their ship takes them to Brynnlaw, the location of Spellhold, [[ButThouMust as dictated by canon]]. At this point it is revealed that Maleficus was working for Bodhi.

It had an expansion pack, ''[[VideoGame/BaldursGateIIThroneOfBhaal Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal]]'', which was just about large enough to count as a new game. Just like the original game, an ''Enhanced Edition'' was released in Nov 2013.

* {{Railroading}}: At the end of chapter 1, it doesn't matter what you say: Gaelan will take you to his house and propose the deal, which you '''cannot''' refute. Any other dialogue choice will just loop until you finally accept. You also generally have no choice but to pursue the BigBad thanks to said deal, you can't simply walk away from Amn and go anywhere else forever.

* NearVillainVictory: The only reason why Irenicus plans ended with fiasco was because his sister Bohdi [[BondVillainStupidity wanted to play a cruel cat and mouse game at the expense of main character.]]

* GameMod: Lots. Even though this game is over a decade and a half old, the modding community has remained active, undertaking and completing extremely ambitious projects. One of the more popular mods is "Unfinished Business", which restores a lot of [[DummiedOut cut content]]. There is even a set of utilities, the BiG World Project, that allows players to choose from hundreds of mods, install them, solve compatibility issues, and debug the whole setup.

* LandmarkSale: A thief in Athkatla's slums tries this with the Planar Sphere. Needless to say, Valygar is ''not'' happy if he is in the party to hear it.

** When you fight [[spoiler:Irenicus in Spellhold]] without adequate support, he simply casts Wish, and it is TotalPartyKill time for you.

** Unless you're idling around to an extreme degree, the timespan from ''[=BG1=]'' to ''[=BG2:ToB=]'' takes a year tops. Which means that you (and your entire group) climbed from level 1 to epic levels within that time.

** The mercenary mages an old enemy of Jaheira's hires to curse her can be convinced to abandon their employer, a former slaver, if you offer to pay them more money when you track them down. Pay extra and they will even backstab him the moment he tries to summon them to his aid. You even ask their leader how much you would have to pay to get them to betray their contract. This adds an extra layer of defeat for the slaver, since he spent his last savings on this revenge scheme while the few thousand gold you pay to turn his own mercs against him might be chicken feed to you at this point.

** The first time is while escaping from [[BigBad Irenicus]]' dungeon. You run across an imprisoned man in a [[GildedCage rather luxurious]] cell, with a large number of booby-trapped treasure chests to boot. If you let him out, he shortly afterward reveals he's a doppelganger and attacks, with rather predictable results.

* YouCantThwartStageOne: You can't stop Irenicus [[spoiler:from stealing your's and Imoen's souls]] in ''[=SoA=]'', and in ''[=ToB=]'' you can't stop [[spoiler: Yaga-Shura from razing Saradush]], nor can you stop [[spoiler: Melissan's plan to kill all the Bhaalspawn until it's only you and (possibly) Imoen left.)]]

* TheAlmightyDollar: Waukeen is the goddess of money, trade, and wealth. Locations such as "Waukeen's Promenade" are named after her.

* TheAlmightyDollar: Waukeen is the goddess of money, trade, and wealth.

'''Haer'Dalis:''' [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar One does spring readily to mind...]]

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** See LeastRhymableWord.
** There's also a lot of "festhalls" and "courtesans" in Athkatla.
** Just before [[spoiler:Irenicus murders the jailors at Spellhold]], we're treated to two of the Cowled Wizards discussing Imoen:
--->'''Wizard 1''': That girl they brought in, she's a cute one, isn't she?
--->'''Wizard 2''': I do believe I'll have to practice some [[PrisonRape enchantment spells]] on that one. [''laughs'']

** The second time is about halfway through the game, when [[spoiler:Yoshimo, who had (potentially) joined you near the start, reveals himself as a SixthRangerTraitor for Irenicus, due to a geas placed on him. The next time you meet him after that, there is no way around [[KilledOffForReal killing him off for real]], which he desperately wants anyway.]].

* YourCheatingHeart: Two instances in the second game: a man you find in the Copper Coronet has been fooling around with one of the girls in the backrooms (and you can get the wife to confront the husband), and Keldorn's wife cheating on him with a lord in Athkatla. In the latter case, you can tell Keldorn to follow the law and put his wife in jail (which makes his daughters hate him), but he's more than happy to find another way. If he reconciles with his wife, you can let him stay at home permanently to try to repair his marriage, or give him a day to patch things up before he accompanies you again.